Car Break-Ins Rose 47% in Seven Years

Car break-ins are one of the most common crimes in Los Angeles. Police in the city and elsewhere have blamed the scourge of thefts from vehicles in part on increasingly homelessness and opioid addition.

Between 2010-2017, thefts from vehicles rose by 47%. Overall crime reports in LA over that same period rose 7.9%.

Year

Number of thefts from
motor vehicles

2010

9562

2011

9206

2012

10013

2013

10271

2014

10923

2015

13553

2016

14308

2017

14072

Last month, there were a total of 1216 reports of theft from motor vehicles, an increase of only six from June.

In July, half of all LA neighborhoods saw thefts from vehicles drop compared with June of 2018. In this same period, only 37% saw an increase in reports.

Here are the neighborhoods with some of the most significant decreases in the number of reports for theft from a motor vehicle between June and July of 2018:

Neighborhood

June 2018

July 2018

% Change

Koreatown

34

22

-35%

Mid City

17

10

-41%

Canoga Park

24

13

-46%

Palms

21

10

-52%

Mid-Wilshire

15

7

-53%

Some neighborhoods also experienced an increase in the number of reports for theft from a motor vehicle. Here are some of the most significant:

Neighborhood

June 2018

July 2018

% Change

Tarzana

9

19

111%

Woodland Hills

15

28

87%

Studio City

20

33

65%

Pacoima

14

21

50%

Westlake

28

38

36%

For 2018, the trend in the number of reports for theft from a motor vehicle has been fairly flat. Here’s the year-to-date summary:

In comparison to last year, there was a slight increase in the number of these reports. The July 2018 count of 1216 reports is 3% up from the July 2017 count of 1177 reports.

The overall trend for this year is higher as well. Through July of last year, there had been 8075 total reports of theft from a motor vehicle, while in 2018 there have already been 8451 reports, a 4.7% increase.

*Our reports for this category of crime include both thefts and attempted thefts from vehicles as well as burglaries and attempted burglaries from vehicles. See more on how we organize our crime data here.